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                   Blast Kills at Least 8 at Somali Tea Shop

   by VOA News

   An explosion at a tea shop on the outskirts of the Somali capital,
   Mogadishu, has killed at least 8 people, as many as six of them
   government soldiers.
   The Somali defense ministry says Friday's blast was caused by an
   improvised explosive device.

   Media reports say a senior military officer and several of his
   bodyguards were among those killed, though it is not clear if he was
   the target.

   There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, but
   al-Shabab militants periodically carry out bomb attacks in Mogadishu.

   Al-Shabab once controlled most of the Somali capital, but the group was
   driven out of Mogadishu and other major Somali cities by an African
   Union-led peacekeeping force.

   The al-Qaida-linked group is still considered a threat.  In September,
   al-Shabab claimed responsibility for an assault on a shopping mall in
   the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, that killed more than 60 people.

   VOA's Somali service contributed to this report.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/blast-at-mogadishu-tea-shop/1818439.html